There's more work to be done.
In a profession known for hyperbole, that sentiment is an uncharacteristic understatement.
Despite the strides made in Massachusetts to counter the opioid epidemic, it's a belief shared by both the state's incoming and outgoing chief executive officers.
State government has invested millions in recovery programs, de-stigmatizing opioid-use disorder, bolstering law enforcement's ability to get fentanyl off the streets, and holding opioid manufacturers accountable for irresponsible marketing and production, Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Attorney General Maura Healey said at a roundtable discussion Tuesday at A New Way Peer Recovery Center in Quincy.
Still, opioid overdoses have increased dramatically since 2000, and remain at elevated levels. A 2018 report from the Department of Public Health data provides a snapshot of the significant growth of the opioid crisis since 2000, when 379 Massachusetts residents died of opioid-related overdoses.
The 2,290 confirmed and suspected overdose deaths logged last year represent a 504 percent increase since 2000. In 2021, the rate of opioid deaths year over year in Massachusetts climbed 9 percent, a level that surpasses the state's previous high point in 2016.
Department of Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke said at a Public Health Council meeting in June that while the 9 percent climb from 2020 to 2021 "is significantly lower than the national trends, it is problematic for Massachusetts and for our country."
Department of Public Health data tracked an overdose death rate of 32.6 per 100,000 residents in 2021, up from 29.9 in 2020 and 28.8 in 2019.
Last year's death rate, the department said in its opioid report, exceeded by 6.2 percent the previous peak of 30.7 per 100,000 residents logged in 2016.
Nationally, recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that in the past year, someone in this country died of a drug overdose about every five minutes.
It's another tragic footnote in this nation's struggle to rein in this escalating epidemic.
The number of overdose deaths nationwide last year rose almost 15 percent to nearly 108,000, based on death certificates the CDC reviews.
Fentanyl continues to the cause of most fatal overdoses. That synthetic opioid's 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine, or methamphetamine, a synthetic stimulant, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Last year, overdose deaths involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in this country rose 23 percent to more than 71,000. Deaths involving meth and other stimulants rose 34 percent, while cocaine-related deaths increased 23 percent.
The lack of available treatment has definitely contributed to these fatal overdoses, but so has the readily available quantities of these illegal substances.
Baker said Tuesday that COVID-19 "was an incredible blow to the progress and the momentum that we had developed here in Massachusetts before the pandemic."
But he did give credit to those in the medical community responsible for our state's relative success in battling one epidemic, opioid addiction, in the midst of a pandemic, COVID-19.
"But I will say this, while everybody's numbers look worse than they did before the pandemic, ours look dramatically better than they look in many other parts of the country," Baker said. "I give many of the people in this room and many of your colleagues around the Commonwealth enormous credit for finding ways to hold on to and stay with so many of the people you served and supported during that very difficult time."
Commenting back in June on that DPH data, Baker stated: "Today's report underscores the harmful impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and the scourge of fentanyl have had on those struggling with addiction, and we are committed to continuing our work with the Legislature and our colleagues in the addiction and recovery community to boost access to services and treatment."
But with Baker leaving office in early January, that executive duty now falls to Healey.
As attorney general, she's well aware of the vital role law enforcement plays in the interdiction of these addictive substances and prosecution of those who profit from them.
She also understands, as do attorneys general in every other state that this opioid trail extends far beyond our nation's borders.
It starts with the raw product's genesis in China ― subsequently refined in Mexico ― that eventually flows through our country's porous entry points via land, sea and air.
Given that, every state, with help from the federal government, must do its part, including law enforcement, the medical community, and pre-emptive education in schools, to combat this menace.
We believe the other 49 states would do well to emulate the Massachusetts model.
This article was published in the Sun, Lowell, Mass. and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
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